Esquel, a place where we stayed two times: first on our way south to Ushuaia, and then again on our way up north. It is a really nice area where you can ski in the winter, and have a really good mountain biking experience in the summer. A sign indicated a route XC biking. The first time, in early springtime, the weather wasn’t really that good: chilly and a lot of wind. Still I managed to ride around the laguna Zeta.
But the second time, In early summer, the weather was really nice, with almost 30°C temperature. I started at Laguna Zeta and, while leaving the lake behind me, I followed a trail along a small estancia. Then after turning left, the double track mildly ran down along a hill side. I had to cross some refreshing clear water creeks.
Then I crossed the main road to follow another trail along Laguna Willimanco. After that there were forests and fields to enjoy.
I made a loop down to the railroad. This railroad is no longer in use but it is perfect to cruise back to Esquel, since it has a very mild incline.
Close to Esquel I left the rail and took the road up the the ski area, taking a left at some point to follow a single trail again, crossing some more refreshing rivers.
Climbing up again to reach Laguna Zeta, I had to ride through some more pampa, property of a finca but accessible if you are on foot or by human-powered bike. But some labour involved getting trough all the gates.
Slowly Laguna Zeta came into sight again. After a last stretch of single track that included some short climbs, I completed the loop around it. In this occasion lot’s of mountain bike tracks helped me to navigate this one.
